Shoe form



Aug 20, 1929 B. L HlRsHoN SHOE FORM Filed Jan. 17, 1928 /rNvENTOR /l d, MV

ATTORNEY Patented' Aug. 20, `1929.

UNITED STATES 1,725,516 PATENT OFFICE.

BEATRICE LESEN HIRSHON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO VOCATIONAL Al)- J'USTMENT BUREAU, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.A

SHOE FORM.

Application led January 17, 1928.

This invention relates to certain novel and useful improvements in shoe forms or trees, and has particular application to a shoe form which is adapted to be inserted in the toe section of a shoe, pump, slipper, or similar article of footwear for the purpose of preserving the contour or shape of the shoe.

At the present time wooden or metal shoe trees of various kinds are used in the endeavor to maintain the shape of shoes, but it has* been found that certain manifest disadvantages are incident to wooden and metallic shoe trees. Such wooden or metallic trees are of course composed of a hard, solid,

rigid, unyielding material andv when inserted in the shoes and permitted to remain for any appreciable length of time tend. to distort, press, or thrust the toe section of the shoe out of shape, this being due to the fact that 2o owing tothe hard, unyielding nature of the material ofthe treethe latter acts as a thrust block or Wedge when inserted in the shoe and if permitted to remain in the latter for any length of time will push or distort the toe of the shoe out of shape. Especially is this the case when the shoe is of relatively light construction or formed of soft thin material, such as! patent kid, suede or satin, materials largely used in the manufacture of high 3o grade ladies shoes. Indeed, so objectionable is the use of hard, unyielding shoe trees for ladies shoes in particular, that it is the' common practice to use in lieu of such shoe trees, small wads of paper or cotton rolled by hand and inserted inthe toe of the shoe. This of course is merely a makeshift remedy inasmuch as it is .difficult to make such a stulling Wad of they proper contour or shape, but such an expedient is restorted to particularly by 40 1adies,'to avoid the injury and damage to light, expensive shoes as is inflicted by the use of hard shoe trees.

By my invention I obviate the disadvantages incident to the "use of hard, unyielding shoe trees and eliminate the necessity of using such a make shift as the stulling or wad of paper or cotton, for one bf the purposes of the present invention is to provide a soft,

yielding shoe form which, when inserted within the toe of a slipper or shoe, will snugly adjust itself to the contour of the inner surface of the toe section and vamp of the shoe orfslipper and completely lill such section so that 'while the latter will be supu ported in its original', natural form, yet there Serial N0. 247,303.

will. be an entire absence of thrust or distorting pressure against the supported section of the shoe.

Another object of my invention is to provide a soft, self-adjusting, resilient pad or form which will snugly fit within and support the adjacent parts of shoes or slippers of different sizes, and which will possess the desired features of simplicity, eiciency, durability and convenience, and which may be manufactured and marketed at a relatively low cost.

With the above recited objects and others of a similar nature in view my .invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying vdrawings v Fig. 1 is a view and side elevation of a conventional form of ladys shoe with a p0rtion thereof broken away andl showing the manner of using my improved shoe pad or form;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the pad or form in its extended position; v

Fig. 3 is a similar view and showin the plad as compressed ready to insert wit in a s loe;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the pad or form Fig. 5 is a plan View illustrating the two sections of soft,` pliable material used in making the cover of the pad or form;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view partially broken away of a modified form of my invention and illustrating the use of a spring frame in connection therewith;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of another modified form of the pad.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail and particularly to Figs. l-5 inclusive the letter A indicates, in Fig. 1, a conventional form of ladies shoe, the toe section of which has inserted therein my preferred form of pad. This pad Ior form which is indicated as an entirety by the letter B preferably has its cover or casm made of two sections of relatively soft, yielding material, which may be of any suitable character', for example, the covering maybe made of a suitable cloth or fabric such as velvet, canvas, or the like, or leather, such as kid, and it is to be understood that I do not limit myself in this respect to any particular material. The blanks or sections forming the cover or casing of the pad are shown in Fig. 5 and comprise a base section 1 and a top section 2. The base section 1 is relatively longer and Wider than the top section 2 and is adapted to be folded at its Side edges to form the side laps 3, the bottom edges of this base section being cut in concave form as in 4, while the bottom edge of the top section is similarl cut in concave form as in 5. The pad 1s intended to be stuffed. with a suitable filling, as shown at 6, this filling being composed of any soft, yielding material, such as cotton, excelsior, hair, cloth, or other fibrous material of a soft, yielding nature. In the formation of the pad the vcover sections may be ,first stitched along the meeting edges as atv 7 and after the proper filling has been inserted, the concave bottom edge of the pad may be stitched or closed as at 8, to complete a soft, yielding pad which in its general shape resembles somewhat a blunt arrowhead, as lshown in Fig. 2. bly reference to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be no that the pad orform is relatively wider than the interior of the toe portion of the shoe in which it is intended to be inserted, so that it is necessary to compress the pad laterally, as shown in Fig. 3, to insert it in such toe portion. When under such compression the width of the pad is naturally reduced and its thickness increased, and, owing to the self-adjusting or resilient nature of the pad itwill, when inserted in the shoe, snugly conform to the interior of the toe, as'shown in Fig, 1. In inserting such pad in the. shoe lthe pointed ends thereof are pressedtoward each other c as shown in Fig. 3, and after the pad has been placed in the toe of' the shoe and the pressure of the fingers released the ends will s ring out or separate to the general form shown in Fig. 2 so that the pad will adjust itself, snugly to theinterior of the shoe without exertmg undue or distorting pressure thereon. The purpose of cutting the bottom lsection of the cover of the pad to provide the lside la s 3 is 'that when the pad is compressed as s own in Fig. 3 and then the pressure released, these la s, being integral with the bottom section o the cover of thepad and being stitched tothe top section 2 of such cover along the stitching 7, in the .spreading of the pad, will pull 1n opposite directions against the cover section 2 adjacent the bottom thereof and ensure the pro -l er stretching of the ad to snugly* lit t e shoe toe. In a wor by so forming the cover .of the pad these lap sections 3 tend to properly spread or expand the pad, more so than would be the case where both the cover sections were of identical size and shapev and stitched along the outer edges,

although this latter arrangement may be resorted to, if desired. s

v ,In Fig. 6 I have shown a slightly modilied formjiof my invention, and in this instance I provide the pad with a resilient frame of arrowhead shape shown at 9 which determines the contour or shape of the pad, and which may be formed of light spring wire, flat thin steel, or other suitable resilient springy material. The use of such a spring frame givesgreater resiliency and more positive action to the compression and expansion of the pad, as would be readily appreciated. y v

In Fig. 7 I have shown still another modication of the invention wherein a spring frame 10 of horseshoe lshape is provided, such frame being made of a thin, flat strip of metal with the .ends thereof projecting beyond the opposing ends of the pad and are curled as at 11 to form suitable exposed finger grips.

From the foregoing it will be observed, and, in these various forms of pads I have provided a soft, resilient, yielding shoe form which, when inserted in the toe of a shoe, will completely and snugly lill the same and preserve the original shape without undue pressure against the material of the shoe and therefore without the liability. of distorting, unduly stretching or pushing the shoe toe out of place. Furthermore, owing to the soft, yielding nature of my pad or form tle shoe, no matter how delicate, will not' be injured or marred or cut, as is often the case with hard wooden or metallic shoe trees. It will further be understood that the compressible andexpansible nature of my pad enables it to accommodate shoes and slippers of various sizes. Furthermore, the pads may be made up in very neat, ornalmental and attractive manner, Vby forming thea casing or cover of materials of different colors, such colors if desired matching the blors of the shoes in 'which the pads are intended to be used.

While Ihave herein shown and described certain preferred forms of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to all the precise details of construction ,herein set forth by way of illustration,

. as modification and variation may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

What I' claim is:

1. A shoe form comprising a soft, yieldable body having a rounded tip at one end and diverging spaced terminals at the opposite end.

2. A shoe form comprising a soft, yieldable bod capable of com ression and expansion aving a rounde tip at one end and diverging spaced terminals at the opposite end.

3. A shoe form comprising a soft, yieldable body of substantially arrowhead shape,

embodying a flexible cover and a soft, yieldable filler.

4. A shoe form capable of compression and expansion and having a rounded tip at one end and diverging spaced terminals at the opbowed frame, a filler of soft, yielding fibrous materiaal, and-a cover encasing the frame and the material.

G. A shoe form comprising a bowed frame of spring metal, a filler of soft, yielding fibrous material, and a cover of soft, pliable, flexible material enclosing the filler and Vthe frame.

7. A shoe form of .substantially arrowhead shape, comprising a flexible cover formed of a plurality of sections, one of which sections is of greater area than the other, and has its edge portion folded to provide inwardly extended laps stitched to the edge of the section of lesser area and a Soft yielding filler enclosed by the cover.

8. A self-adjusting shoe form relatively wider than the toe portion of the shoe in which it is to be inserted and adapted of its own inherent expansibility to fit snugly Within such toe portion, said form comprising a soft, yieldable filler composed entirely of a compressible and expansible body of loose fibruous material and a fabric cover encasing the filler body. y

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York this 16th day of December, A. D. 1927.

BEATRICE L. HIRSHON. 

